Baby Genius
by emmakaterina
Summary: Spencer and Emily adjust to life as a family of 3. Includes flashbacks to how their relationship begins and progresses. Rated M for explicit scenes and some language/violence.
1. Chapter 1

_August 12, 2014_

"Spencer, I'm not sure if I can do this."

Spencer looked into Emily's eyes. There were tears streaming down her cheeks. Spencer could count the number of times he had seen her cry on one hand.

"Em, if there is one thing I am sure of; it is that _you_ of all people can do this. You are so strong, Em. So strong. You're almost there. Just keep going a little bit longer."

Emily just looked at him. Willing herself to believe his words as she blinked away the tears that continued to form. She felt like her body was being split in half and that flames were what was tearing her apart.

"Alright Emily, I can see a good amount of head. You're doing great. Just a few more strong pushes and your baby will be here. Can you do that for me, Emily?

Emily wasn't sure she could. She'd been in labor for what seemed like forever and she didn't feel like she had any energy left. No epidural had seemed like a great idea at the time; going all natural like her ancestors before her. But now she wasn't so sure she could handle the pain of another contraction. And the only thing worse than the contractions was the constant burning she felt from where her baby's head was stretching her further than any woman should be stretched without anesthesia.

"Oh my god I think one's coming! I think one's coming!" Emily said in increasing fear.

"Okay Emily, you've got this. Big deep breath and push."

Emily pushed with everything she had left in her. Spencer counted for her and when he reached 10 she took another deep breath and went right back it. The burning reached a whole new level of unreal but then suddenly she had a slight feeling of relief.

"Emily, I need you to listen to me, okay? The head is out but we still need to get the rest of the baby out. I want you to give me the strongest push you've got and your baby will be in your arms, I promise."

Emily glanced up at Spencer's face. It was full of disbelief and wonder. She was so unbelievably tired but in that moment she found her motivation. Spencer was looking at their baby and she wanted to be too. She took another deep breath and groaned while giving the biggest push of her life. The next thing she remembers is her midwife saying "baby's out!" and her beautiful blue little baby being laid on her deflated stomach while the nurse and midwife scrambled to dry the baby off.

"Oh my god, it's a girl!" Spencer told Emily.

"She's not crying!" Emily said anxiously as they continued to dry her off. She watched as the nurse stuck a blue bulb syringe into her daughters mouth and frantically pulled out clear fluid. "Is she okay?!"

"Don't worry," her nurse said giving her a little smile. "She's just a little stunned. She's pinking up nicely."

And with that, their daughter let out her first cry. It was a little coarse but it was there. A big, strong, lung clearing cry.

"She's here! She's finally here!" Emily exclaimed as she looked up at Spencer. Now he was the one with tears in his eyes.

"She's here. And she's absolutely beautiful." He replied as he leaned down and gave the new mother a kiss.

"Do you want to set her free, Dad?" Spencer looked up confused.

The midwife held out a pair of scissors to him and looked expectantly at him.

"She's 2 minutes old and her cord has stopped pulsing. You can cut it if you want?"

"Oh yes, of course!" Spencer took the scissors and cautiously cut between the two yellow clamps on his daughter's umbilical cord. Severing her from the very thing that had been giving her life for the the last 41 weeks. It was up to him and Emily now, they were responsible for her life from here on in.

With her cord cut the nurse swiftly unbuttoned the top of Emily's gown and placed the baby right on her chest and covered her with warm towels. Emily was in complete awe. The baby had stopped crying and seemed content skin to skin with her mother. She slowly opened her beautiful blue eyes and blinked up at her mother. Emily knew the new baby's vision was extremely limited, but Emily could tell the sweet girl knew she was looking at her mother.

The next two hours were a blur. Nurses pressing on her belly, watching her bleeding, taking the baby's vitals, taking her vitals, and getting her daughter latched for the very first time. After an hour of skin to skin time she reluctantly let the nurse take her so they could assess her. She watched as her sweet girl get her very first shot. She tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she was a mother. That Spencer was a father. That she and Spencer had made a daughter together. It was everything she had ever wanted but more than she had ever dared to hope for.

"Well, do you want to know how much she weighs?" Spencer asked knowingly from where he stood next to their baby lying on the scale.

"Yes!" Emily replied impatiently.

"8lbs 1.1 oz's!"

"Way to go, Mama!" the nurse said to her. "And all without pain meds, you're my new hero!"

Emily laughed. "I'm not quite sure I'll ever do it again!"

"Well do you want her back or should we give dad a turn?"

Emily looked at Spencer. She was dying to have their baby back in her arms but she knew Spencer was eager to hold her for the first time. He had been so sweet while Emily had held her for the first hour of her life patiently waiting for his turn.

"I guess we'll let dad have a turn." Emily sighed jokingly.

"Alright, dad. Do you want me to wrap her up for you or are you going to take your turn doing skin to skin with this sweet little lady?

"Uhh…" Spencer looked scared. On one hand he had read all about the benefits of skin to skin with a newborn. The temperature and blood sugar regulation, the bonding, and yet he wasn't exactly comfortable taking off his shirt in front of women that weren't Emily.

"Come on babe, trust me. You'll love it." Emily reassured him.

Oh for heaven's sake his wife has had to lay here all day while different nurses and midwives looked at or put their fingers in her most private parts and he was worried about taking off his damn shirt?

"Yeah, of course I'll do skin to skin with her" he said as he removed his Caltech t-shirt. One of the only t-shirts he owned.

He moved a chair next to Emily in the bed and sat down. The nurse placed his daughter right on his chest and promptly covered them both with blankets. She quickly settled in, clearly exhausted after all the excitement of being measured, assessed, and given the newborn meds. Spencer ran his finger across the unbelievably soft skin of her cheek.

"She is so absolutely perfect, Em" he glanced up at her and she was looking at them adoringly.

"So." the nurse said. "Now that we know she's a girl, have we decided on her name?"

Emily and Spencer looked at each other and smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

_September 22nd, 2011_

Emily awoke from her sleep due to a soft but persistent knocking on her hotel room door. She was confused as to who it could be. It was her first night back in the US after informing the team that she was in fact still alive and few people knew where she was staying tonight. She glanced at the clock, it was just shy of 2AM. The knocking continued and Emily got out of bed and reached to get her gun out of the hotel safe. She cautiously made her way to the door and looked through the peephole.

"Spencer?" Emily said in surprise as she opened the hotel room door. "What are you doing here? You almost got yourself shot!"

"I… I just had to make sure that my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. I had to make sure that you really were back." Spencer told her shyly. He seemed embarrassed.

"I'm here, Spencer. I promise I'm here. And I have no intention of leaving again anytime soon, okay?"

Emily reached out to him and embraced him in a hug. Physical contact had always come easier with him than it did with any other of the male members of the team. Sure, there was the occasional clap on the back from Morgan but Hotch and Rossi had always been fairly hands off. Spencer had always been different though. A hug after nearly being blown up, a touch of hands during an emotional moment. He was just comforting.

"I'm sorry that I woke you up. I shouldn't have come."

"No, Spencer. It's okay. I'm glad that your here. Come on in."

Spencer walked into her room and sat down in the office chair next to the bed. He looked at her not sure of what to say.

"Where have you been the last 7 months? What have you been doing?"

"Here and there around Europe, never in one place for too long. Tried to lay low. Mostly it was just really lonely. If I could have been here with you, with the rest of the team, trust me I would have been. These last 7 months were the worst of my entire life, if it wasn't for JJ I'm sure I would have gone insane."

"Yeah well the last 7 months haven't been the greatest for us either, Emily. I carried your coffin. I laid flowers on your grave. I grieved you. You were our family, Emily. You could have told us the truth!"

"Spencer, I've seen first hand what Doyle is capable of. I wasn't willing to put any more people at risk than I had to. I wish you could have known, Spencer. I really do. Knowing that you and the rest of the team had to mourn me was a terrible cross to bear. But what would have been worse would be knowing that I had put you and the rest of team at risk."

Spencer looked somewhat guilty but still very much upset.

"Rationally, I know that you're right. It's just hard to believe that part of my brain when the pain from your death is still so raw."

Emily looked at him. He looked so painfully vulnerable. Spencer could pull at her heart strings more than any man she had ever met.

"Come here, Spencer." Emily scooched over on the bed so that there was room for him. Spencer moved from the chair to sit next to Emily propped up on the headboard, legs stretched out in front of them.

"Look, Spencer," Emily placed her hand above his knee. "I know you can't forget about these last 7 months overnight. And I don't expect you too. But I'm back now, and I promise I won't go anywhere again without telling you. But you mean a lot to me and if we could try and move forward from this I would really like that. Do you think we can do that?"

Emily looked up at Spencer, her hand still on his knee. He was staring back at her. Their faces were closer than she expected. He lifted his hand up and gently placed some loose strands of her hair behind her ear brushing her cheek in the process. The small touch sent goosebumps up Emily's arms. Spencers hand made its way into her hair and around the back of her head and stayed there. Emily didn't know what to do. Everything about this felt so right but in the back of her mind she knew she shouldn't. While she was still mulling everything over in her mind Spencer leaned forward and gently placed his lips on her. It was quick and soft. Emily wasn't sure if she had just imagined it or if Spencer really had just kissed her. But before she could think about it she found herself leaning back into him.

Her lips met his. They were soft and full. She felt Spencer slowly part his lips and he took her bottom lip between both of his. His hand travelled from her hair down to her lower back and his other hand cupped the side of her face.

Emily had kissed a few boys in her day, but no first kiss had been as good as this one. There was no awkwardness. No fumbling hands. But Emily's rational mind caught up with them and slowly she pulled away.

"Spencer," Emily sighed. "We shouldn't. You're just emotional from learning I'm still alive and you're trying to assure yourself that I'm really back." Emily tried to talk Spencer down, but in truth, she didn't want to stop. She had always felt something for Spencer, but she had convinced herself it was just a small crush. How much she had missed him while she was away may have proved otherwise.

"Emily, I've spent the last 7 months wishing I would have gathered the courage to do that before Doyle came into our lives. But if this isn't what you want, then I understand, and I promise we can go back to being friends."

Looking into his eyes she could see that he was hopeful. They both knew what they were risking. Their friendship, possibly their careers. But Emily had to admit something felt extremely right with their kiss.

"I want this, but I'm scared Spencer" Emily answered honestly.

"I am too, but I know what it was like thinking I was too late, and I'm not willing to risk feeling like that again. Let's go out this weekend. We can test the waters and see if it still feels as right as it does tonight."

Emily smiled at him. "That sounds like a great idea."

Spencer glanced at the clock. "I almost forgot it was the middle of the night. I should be going, we both have to be at work in a few hours."

Emily walked him to the door. They shared one last passionate kiss before Spencer made his exit.

Neither of them got much sleep that night.


	3. Chapter 3

_August 13th, 2014_

"Are you sure you want to go home today? Our insurance will cover another night!"

"Spencer, I've been at this hospital for the last three nights. I'm ready to be home and in my own bed, even if I'm not sleeping." Emily jokingly glared at her one day old daughter who had decided to cluster feed the entire night.

"I know, it's just... she's so new and here we have the nurses to help us! One more night couldn't hurt!" Spencer pleaded.

"We have to take her home eventually, Spence! We can't stay here forever. We might as well start tonight. Not to mention you've read every single book on parenting that you could find! You've got this, babe. I trust you!"

Spencer still looked unsure and he scooped the small baby out of her bassinet. "What do you think sweet lady? Are you ready to go home and meet your roommate Sergio?"

"Oh goodness, that should be an interesting introduction."

"I sent her newborn hat home with Penelope to introduce to him. I read that it can help with the transition if the cat learns the infants smell before actually meeting the baby. So hopefully it will go quite smoothly!" Reid said with his usual enthusiasm.

"Of course you read that." Emily replied sarcastically rolling her eyes.

A knock came from the door and their nurse walked in. "Alright! We have everything set up for you two to be discharged except one last thing. You need to finalize the birth certificate. Have you officially picked your name yet?"

"Uhhh" Spencer and Emily said in unison. "It's still a work in progress." Spencer informed the nurse. "But we're almost there. Can we get like another hour?"

"Of course! There is no rush. I'll go check on my other patients. Just let me know when you're done and I'll finalize everything and then get you guys on your way home." The nurse exited the room leaving Spencer and Emily with a big decision to make.

"I still like Eleanor." Spencer told her, gazing at his new daughter who was starting to grow restless.

"I like Eleanor too! I just don't want her to grow up being called Ellie! And we already decided to use one of our moms for the middle name. Eleanor Elizabeth is too much "El" sounds and Eleanor Diana just doesn't have a good flow to it."

"Fair point well made, my love. Per usual"

By now the girl with no name had stopped being just restless and had started to fuss. Emily instinctively started to unsnap her nursing bra. Spencer reached for her nursing pillow and handed the hungry babe to her mother. Emily worked to get the baby latched, a task that proved more difficult than she had expected during her pregnancy. Finally with her baby calmed and nursing she focused her attention back on picking a name.

"How about just Nora?" Emily suggested.

"Nora?"

"Yeah. I mean, we both like Eleanor but agree we don't like Ellie as a nickname. Nora is short and sweet but is still a full name. And I think it works for a kid and a professional for when she's older."

"Nora Elizabeth Reid" Spencer tested out, smiling. "I think it's perfect!"

"Why are you assuming her middle name is going to be Elizabeth? We haven't officially picked her middle name yet!"

"Come on, love. If we're not going to give her a double "El" then we're not going to give her a double "A". Nora Elizabeth has a much better ring to it than Nora Diana does, don't you agree?" Spencer smirked. "Besides, your mom has really stepped up to the plate for you this pregnancy. As much as I would love to honor my mom by naming our daughter after her it would mean more to us than it would to her. She refused to name me after anyone, she believed kids should have their own identities."

"Ahh fair point well made, my love" Emily laughed throwing Spencer's line right back at him.

Emily looked lovingly down at her daughter. "Nora Elizabeth Reid, oh how we love you."

Spencer called the nurse and they got their birth certificate finalized. Their girl officially had a name.

"Are you sure she's strapped in properly?" Spencer asked the nurse for at least the third time.

The nurse looked at baby Nora again, strapped and snuggled in to her carseat. "I'm sure, Dr. Reid. Besides, I'm pretty sure you know more about carseat safety than I do and I've been here for 12 years!" the nurse joked.

"Did you know that up to 84% of carseats are being used improperly? I'm not going to risk my child being injured or killed in a car accident because of my ignorance!"

"I know, babe. And I appreciate your diligence." Emily smiled at him. "But she's safely restrained and we are all ready to go, okay."

"Just a few final things to go over, Emily. It's important that you take it easy over these next few weeks. Limit your stairs and physical activity and let your body heal. If you notice an increase in your bleeding or cramping it's a sign that you're doing too much. Everything is typed up in your discharge instructions, so reference those or call your midwife if you have any questions. The most important thing is nothing in the vag area until you've had your six week check up!" the nurse glanced over at Spencer and gave him a knowing look.

Spencer threw his arms up and feigned innocence.

Emily laughed. "No worries, nothing is going near there for a real long time! Is that everything? Are we clear to go?"

"Yes, you guys are good to go! Do you want me to take your guys' picture?" the nurse offered.

"Yes, please!" Emily replied and handed the nurse her iPhone.

Emily and Spencer stood next to each other both holding their newborn daughters carseat in between them. They both had the biggest smiles on their faces. Comparable only to their wedding day.

"Beautiful" said the nurse as she handed Emily back her phone. "Baby Nora is so lucky to be going home with such devoted parents. You guys will do great."

"Thank you so much for all your help. We appreciate everything you've done for us during this crazy transition to parenthood!"

And with that Spencer took the carseat in one hand and Emily's hand in the other. They walked out of the hospital and headed home as a family of three.


	4. Chapter 4

_September 24, 2011_

"What if I had started taking dilaudid again, would you have let me?"

Emily watched from afar as Spencer blamed JJ once again for not telling him that Emily was alive. He had been cold to her their entire case. Emily thought he had been acting kind of petty. That was until she heard him tell JJ that he had gone to her house for 10 weeks crying over the loss of her. With that she felt her heart shatter.

"You didn't" JJ replied, looking guilty.

"Yeah, but I thought about it."

JJ tried to apologize again but Spencer wasn't having any of it. Emily watched as Reid stormed away. She needed to do something.

"Reid" she said cautiously.

He didn't even look at her as he left the building. She wanted to follow him, and after a moment of hesitation, she did. He had been fairly aloof towards her during their case in Oklahoma. She had assumed it was because he didn't want their team to know there was something going on between them but now she was starting to worry that he really was having feelings of anger towards her.

She caught up with him in the parking garage. "Spencer, please wait!"

Spencer turned around and looked at her. He stopped walking but still seemed uneasy and anxious. She took him by the hand and led them in between some cars, instead of out in the open.

"Spencer," she ran her fingers through his hair. She could feel some of the tension leave his body.

"I'm sorry." he said. "I know I'm being unfair to JJ. I'm just still so angry she couldn't trust me. She saw me at my most vulnerable and she sat there knowing she could ease my pain and chose not to."

"Spence," Emily sighed. "That decision was made for JJ. It wasn't one that she chose. Trust me. We all wish it could have been different." She looked down and paused before making eye contact with him again once more. "Did you really consider using dilaudid again?"

Spencer looked ashamed.

"I wanted to. But I never truly considered it. I knew it would make me feel better, but only temporarily, and then I would be feeling worse than when I had started." Spencer hesitated before continuing. "You know what upsets me the most? This team has broken protocol so many times for the sake of one another, I just don't know what made this situation different."

Emily was at a loss for words, he definitely had a point.

"I'll get over it, Em. It's just going to take time." Spencer said softly.

Emily placed her hand on his cheek and raised herself up on her tippy toes to be at eye level with him. She wanted to kiss him again, but with everything going on she wasn't sure he wanted the same. She decided to leave it up to him and he didn't disappoint her. He placed his hand on her hip and cautiously leaned in. His lips brushed against hers and she immediately took the lead. Her hands moved down to his waist and she leaned into him capturing his lips in hers. The kiss heated up quickly and she gently bit down on his bottom lip. He groaned and Emily swore that it was the sexiest thing she had ever heard. Spencer pulled away.

"This probably isn't the best place to do this," Spencer gasped, slightly out of breath.

Emily chucked. "Nothing gets past you does it, Dr. Reid. So about that date you promised me, tomorrow is Sunday after all and that does mark the end of a weekend."

"Hmm," Spencer smiled. "I guess I did promise you a date this weekend, didn't I."

"You sure did. So where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise. I'll pick you up at 10 AM if that works for you?"

"That's fine. What should I wear?" Emily asked, curious as to where Spencer would be taking her at 10 in the morning.

"Something casual is fine." Spencer smiled at her, not giving anything away.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then"

Emily leaned forward and gave him a kiss goodbye. She pulled back before it got too heated like their previous kiss had and she walked to her car.

 _September 25th, 2011_

Spencer was due to pick her up in 20 minutes and Emily was still wrapped in her towel trying to decide what to wear. She wasn't usually the type of girl to stress over such things but casual could mean so many different things. Should she wear a casual dress? Workout clothes? A t-shirt and jeans? If she only knew what they were doing she could better plan. In the end she decided on a pair of skinny jeans and one of her favorite sweaters. It was soft and striped, casual but not dressed down.

She was going through her hair a final time with the flat iron when she heard a knock on the door. Unexpectedly she suddenly felt nervous butterflies in her belly. Quickly she unplugged the straightener and opened up the door for him. Emily was taken aback for a moment. He looked handsome. Real handsome. He was wearing jeans, something he rarely did, and a soft t-shift with a cardigan over top.

"Em. Wow. Those jeans." Spencer said, red in the face.

Emily smiled, she knew those jeans definitely helped accentuate her body that she had worked hard for. "Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you, Dr. Reid."

Spencers blush turned even deeper. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure thing, just let me grab my purse."

Emily was settled into the passenger's seat of Reid's car. They had been driving for nearly a half an hour and they seemed to be heading into the city. Although that didn't exactly narrow down the places he could be taking her.

"Are we at least getting close?" Emily whined jokingly.

"Patience is a virtue, my dear. And to answer your question; yes. We are more than halfway there."

True to his word they weren't driving much longer when Spencer pulled into the entryway of the National Zoo.

"We're going to the zoo?" Emily asked with excitement. Despite all the time she had spent in DC she never had made it to the zoo.

"Yeah." Spencer replied matching her enthusiasm. "The zoo has always been one of my favorite places, since I was kid."

Emily smiled at the thought of young Spencer enjoying the zoo.

Spencer pulled into a parking spot and as soon as the car was turned off Emily reached across the console and pulled Spencers face to hers. She kissed him slowly.

"This is perfect, Spencer. I love it."

Spencer and Emily walked hand in hand throughout the zoo. Spencer told Emily interesting tidbits of information on every animal they came across. Spencer had even packed a picnic and they had it for lunch in one of the parks. The only hiccup in the date didn't come until a little later…

"Spencer, look! We're almost to the pandas!"

The Giant Pandas were definitely the biggest draw at the National Zoo and for good reason. Up close it was impossible to deny how truly magnificent the animals were.

Emily let go of Spencer's hand and rushed towards the exhibit.

"Spencer, look at how cool they are!" Emily exclaimed as she quickly turned around back to Spencer. The purse on her shoulder caught the momentum of her turn and as she turned into Spencer her purse hit him squarely in his crotch.

"Umph" Spencer grunted in surprise with his knees buckling.

"Shit! Spencer! I'm so sorry, are you okay?!"

Spencer help up a finger signalling it would be a moment before he would be able to speak again. He remained bent in the knees with his head down and his hands over his pants.

Emily felt horrible but strangely also felt some relief. Spencer was so in-human in so many aspects of his life. It was good to know that in some ways he was still just like any other man.

She placed her hand gently on his back and rubbed up and down. "Spence, I'm so sorry! Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I'm fine." Spencer said in a pitch slightly higher than his norm. "I'm fine. Just caught me off guard a bit."

Emily laughed. "What, you weren't expecting me to assault you on our first date?"

Spencer gave her a small pained smile. "We both know you're stronger than me, Em. No need to remind me." Spencer joked.

Spencer took her hand and kissed it. "Let's go see those pandas, shall we?"

Emily was pleased to say the rest of their date had gone wonderfully and now they were back in his car driving back to Emily's apartment. She was having an internal debate with herself on whether or not to invite him up to her apartment. On one hand it was only their first date and she didn't want him to think she did that with every guy on the first date. But on the other hand it was Spencer, it hadn't felt like a first date.

"You're awfully quiet over there." Spencer remarked from the driver's seat.

"Just thinking about the wonderful day we had," Emily smiled at him.

Spencer pulled into her parking lot, she hadn't realized how long they had been driving.

Spencer turned the car off and this time he took the initiative and leaned over the center console. He tucked his hand into Emily's hair and brought his face to hers. He kissed her and slowly traced her bottom lip with his tongue. Emily returned his kiss and parted her lips. Her tongue met his and Emily sighed in satisfaction. Emily broke off the kiss and quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and crossed the center console to straddle Spencer in the driver's seat. Not an easy feat in skinny jeans but she managed to accomplish it gracefully.

Spencer fumbled to push the seat back to make more room for her as her hands went to his face and she brought her lips to his. Spencer ran her hands up and down her sides. He started on top of her sweater but soon found his hands traveling up her sides under her sweater, skin on skin. Emily who had been holding up her own weight on her knees suddenly pressed the full weight of her body on to him and started rocking her hips back and forth.

Emily could feel Spencers pleasure growing beneath her. "Do you want to come inside?" Emily asked.

Spencer nodded and followed her lead out of the car and into the apartment.


	5. Chapter 5

_August 13, 2014_

Emily gasped when she opened the door to their home. Pink, white, and silver balloons hung from the ceiling. A banner spelling out "Welcome Home" was hanging from the island in their kitchen. And most surprisingly their house was sparkling clean. She and Spencer had made a conscious effort to keep their house tidy in the weeks prior to the birth of their child but this was above and beyond. Everything had been scrubbed, dusted, or wiped down and she was pretty sure the floors were so clean you could eat off of them. Emily walked into the house and spotted a note on the island.

 _Emily, Spencer, and Baby Nora,_

 _We wish you nothing but happiness as you ease into your life as a family of three. Let us know when we can come visit your sweet baby. That short visit in the hospital wasn't nearly enough._

 _Love, The Team_

 _Aaron, JJ, Derek, David, and Penelope_

Emily opened the door to the freezer and sure enough there were soups and casseroles waiting with post-it note instructions on how to re-heat them.

"How did we get so lucky?" asked Emily.

"They are pretty great, aren't they Nora!" Spencer cooed at the baby.

He set her carseat down on the floor and worked on unbuckling her. The new baby had slept the entire drive home and was still snoozing when Spencer pulled her out. She grimaced at being disturbed but made no effort to open her eyes.

"Sleepy girl, you've had a big day haven't you!"

Emily smirked to herself listening to Spencer talk to their newborn daughter. He had insisted that he was going to talk normally to their baby because it was better for their development but he wasn't exactly succeeding in that goal.

Spencer sat down on the couch and Nora snuggled happily into his chest. Emily sat down next to him and cuddled into his side gazing at the little human that they made together.

"She's perfect, right?" Emily asked Spencer while still staring at the sleeping baby on his chest. "My mind isn't playing tricks on me, she really is perfect."

Spencer turned to kiss her temple.

"A more perfect baby has never existed." Spencer leaned forward and repositioned Nora from his chest and into his arms so they could get a better view of Nora's face. "Em, I want to talk to you about something."

Emily glanced up at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

"I was thinking that, maybe, when you are finished with your maternity leave I should leave the BAU."

"What?!" Emily wasn't sure what she thought he was going to say but it most certainly wasn't that. "What do you mean?"

"Nora's here now and we have to think about her. I love our job so much, and I absolutely love working with you, but we're put in dangerous situations all the time. The only thing worse than Nora losing one of her parents would be Nora losing both of her parents."

"Okay, you make a good point but why does that mean you have to leave? I could just as easily be the one to leave the BAU."

"Em, I joined the FBI at 22 because that's what Gideon wanted me to do. And I stayed there because they were the only semblance of a family that I had. Then you came along and my whole world flipped on its axis. I love the BAU, I do. But I've spent my whole adulthood there and I'm okay with trying something new. Before I stayed at the BAU because it was all I had. But now I have you, Nora, and I know I won't lose the team. You've given me the courage to branch out."

Spencer turned to look at Emily. He was surprised to see that her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. Emily placed her forehead against his and sniffled.

"I can't imagine the BAU without you in it."

"I can stay on retainer and help out if you guys need me. But I really think it will be for the best. I'll be home every night to put Nora to bed. But trust me, Em. This scares me too. Knowing that you're going to be hunting serial killers and I'll be here. Helpless to stop any danger that might come your way."

Emily chuckled and placed her lips against is. She barely pulled away and said "Nora is so lucky to have you, and so am I."

August 21, 2014

Spencer tentatively knocked on Hotch's door, unsure of how this meeting would go.

"Come in."

Spencer entered through the doorway and nodded to his superior.

"Spencer, what are you doing here? You still have 3 more weeks of paternity leave."

"Yeah, that's actually kind of what I wanted to talk to you about."

Hotch gave him an inquisitive look and motioned for Spencer to take a seat.

"I wanted to talk to you about my role here in the BAU once Emily comes back from maternity leave. We've discussed it and as much as we both love our jobs here we don't want to both be out in the field. None of us are naive to the risk we face everyday at this job. With Nora in the picture, we can't justify the potential toll it could take on her and our family."

Spencer paused to allow Hotch to digest the info he had been given. If he was surprised he didn't show it.

"So what would you like your role to be here at the BAU then?"

"If it's possible I would like to stay on full time and work from Quantico like Garcia. I can still do geological profiling and more remotely. But if that's not possible, I would like to stay on retainer and help out when you need it."

"I'm not going to pretend like not having you in the field won't be a loss. Because it will be. But any Spencer Reid we can get will be better than nothing. I will have to get approval from the higher ups for a full time agent who won't be in the field but I am hopeful we can make it happen."

Spencer smiled and gave a little sigh of relief. He had been prepared to leave the BAU if that was what it took, but this compromise seemed like the perfect solution if it worked out.

"Is that all you came to see me about then?" Spencer nodded. "Alright then, enough with the formal. How are Emily and Nora?"

Spencer grinned.


End file.
